Across The Window
by laceynoah1
Summary: AU: Teenage Cosima and Delphine. Delphine is new in the neighborhood and Cosima unintentionally has a way of welcoming her.
1. Chapter 1

**Across the Window**

I

"A bit further", a voice shouted.

She was wrapped around the sheets, her legs splayed out. The drapes were open as usually, ray of light shining against her skin. It was hot, too hot for her liking.

"There! There! Perfect!", someone said as the truck was backing up closer to the entrance of the house.

"Ugh", she sighed shifting in the bed.

9.21AM, she could read on the clock that was seated on her nightstand.

Too early, she thought closing her eyes again.

Even though her window was on the side of the house, the noises of people outside were still too loud and for a teenager who was being awoken by them on a Saturday morning, extremely upsetting.

"Dear god", she muttered turning on her back and staring at the celling as she tried to comprehend what the noise was all about. Pulling away the sheets, she reached for her glasses and left her room in a search for a front window to show her what was happening. Looking out, she saw the truck she obviously heard and a few people moving the boxes out. As this sight bored her quickly, she stepped away and went back to her room. Closing the door she sighed audibly, she knew she'd have trouble going back to sleep so instead she pulled her sleep shirt off and threw it on the bed walking towards the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror watching her physique. She never had self-esteem issues, which most girls of her age struggled with. Everything she felt and saw around her was completely natural for her and that had a way of influencing her thoughts. Hooking her fingers to the sides of her panties she pulled them off and once again she stared at her reflection. There was a little scar in the lower left part of her belly, she ghosted her fingers over it smiling at the memory and afterwards she was gone in the steam of shower.

In the house next door, a new family was settling in. The movement wasn't something they've thought about much. When Richard got a job offer, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to get away from the small town he's been living in and go for something bigger. Of course, he had a family to think of, but they shared the same opinion.

"And this would be your last box", Mary said when she entered her daughter's new room.

"Mhm, thanks", she smiled.

"All good, honey?"

"Oui", girl replied.

And she was good. Delphine's been extremely excited about moving ever since she heard her parents talking about it, but just in that moment as she was walking around in her new room, she realized what moving here actually meant. New friends, new school, new- Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight she's caught. Standing by the window across was a girl, her hair was falling over her shoulders, obviously just out of shower, soaked and there were droplets of water sliding down her nude form. Delphine found herself having hard time looking away. She unconsciously licked her lip and gulped as she scanned the girl's body. The footsteps were sounding off and just as the girl across was gonna look back, she moved away from the window.

There was a knock on a door, "Cos, you awake?"

"Just a second, I'm changing", she said as she caught a glimpse of a blonde hair across the window and just then moved to grab her clothes.

"There's some pancakes downstairs and I left you some money on the table. I have to go now, alright?"

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you, mom"

"I love you. Bye!"

"Love you, too"

Cosima was an only child. She's been living with her mom since she was 9. Her parents divorced, but that didn't influence her much. They are both doctors and since very young age she got used to them not being around a lot. Even though at times that was hard for her, she's grown to be much more independent than her peers. Thus why, she seemed to be always surrounded with friends who were older than her. Her interests, on the other side, matched a lot with her parents'. She was in love with medicine, organisms, anatomy, biology and that was something she could talk about for hours, but at that moment there were a very few people to talk to.


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n:** song mentioned in this chapter is "She's So Mean" by Matchbox Twenty.

Any comments, advice or suggestions on how you'd like the story to develop are welcome.

**Across the Window**

II

_"Sit, sit! Good boy!", Delphine pat her dog's head and gave him a treat. They've been out playing for 10 minutes now and she's started to like the California weather more and more. She was just about to go back in the house when she heard someone call out._

_"Hey, you!", she turned around, but couldn't see anybody. She narrowed her eyebrows in confusion and just when she was ready to let it go she felt a touch on her shoulder. She instantly tensed and jerked her body away. _

_"Woah, woah.. It's okay, I won't bite", just then she noticed it's a girl that she saw from the window days before. Being near her, she for once noticed the features of her face, but it did not take her long to realize that girl appeared nude again. Abruptly, she looked away.__"Don't be afraid", smugness obvious in her voice. Delphine found herself being embarrassed, her cheeks have turned completely red and she started breathing much faster. She had no idea what was happening or what the girl wanted, but her eyes were quickly back on her._

_"I.. Um..", Delphine struggled to find the right words, and that the other girl seemed to find amusing. She smirked, somewhat adoringly looking at the girl. Slowly, she reached out her hand and touched the other girl's cheek. Delphine was already confused, but this move just left her completely clueless. Any thoughts that may've popped on her mind were quickly erased as brunette stepped closer closing the gap between them._

"Merde", Delphine cursed as she heard her alarm go off. Wiping the sleep out of her eyes she sat up on the side of her bed. "What is wrong with me?", she thought remembering her dream. She sighed as she got up, walking by the window she glanced at the one across. No one was there. She wasn't sure why, but that left her feeling disappointed.

"It's just a dream", she mumbled to herself. It's been 4 days since they've moved in and the girl from the house next door seemed to be way too often on display to her than she thought she should. They haven't spoken a word, yet she's seen her naked total 3 times now and that sure has made an impression on her. She just wasn't sure how exactly she felt about it. Delphine's always been confident and even though only 17, she seemed to have gotten it all together. This neighbor, on the other side, made her think things through again and that left her baffled.

* * *

"_She's an uptown, get-around, anything-goes girl_", Cosima sang along dancing to the beat. She was home alone and that meant loud music, complete freedom and doing absolutely nothing and everything. "_Her clothes are on the floor and all your records are scratched_", she continued being louder and louder.

Delphine was on her bed reading when she heard the voice singing. She walked to her window and faced the familiar sight. "Aaah, does this girl have any parents?", she thought, but once again she found herself watching her nevertheless. She was confused and it was upsetting her. She's never had problems solving any puzzles, but what she was feeling right now was making her question things about herself. Things she's never thought of and that made her frustrated.

"_Sayin' yeaah, you want her_", Delphine was brought back from her thoughts as the girl raised her voice.

Gasp! And she froze. The other pair of eyes met hers. She felt like she's stopped breathing, she opened her mouth to say something, yell out, more likely, to explain herself. The other girl, though, wasn't bothered by the scene as much, so she turned around and continued to dance. Quickly, Delphine was gone behind the curtains. She panicked. She was caught and that made her feel so embarrassed. Not thinking it through, she stormed out of the house.

"You really have no problems with nudity, do you?", her voice sounded a bit more aggressive than she's used to.

Cosima opened the door in just a towel, she narrowed her eyes at the girl talking to her. "None", her lips formed an amusing smirk as she confidently responded.

Delphine was taken back by the swift response. She had no idea what she was doing on the porch of this girl's house. Telling her to stop walking around naked was obviously not gonna work and she wasn't sure that's really what she wanted. But she was there, standing right in front of her and she was waiting for her reply. "God, I am such an idiot", she thought. She hoped for a hole to appear and suck her in right now. Cosima raised her eyebrows at the girl who was blatantly staring at her now for longer than it felt she should. "So..", Cosima started but was cut off. "Well, how would you feel if I walked around naked all day for you to see?"

As soon as she said it, Cosima's smirk grew wider and Delphine just then realized how bad she sounded.

"Hmm, think I wouldn't mind that actually", brunette replied as she scanned the girl's body. Delphine was already blushing before, but right now she felt like she's gotten impossibly red. She cleared her throat as if she was about to reply when the girl in front reached her hand out. "Cosima", she said. Delphine looked at the hand in front of her and then back at the girl. She tried to focus, clear her head and just act normal and this gesture somehow calmed her. "Delphine", she shook her hand and the other girl smiled in return.

"You wanna come in, Delphine?"

"I didn't even tell my parents I was going out and I should probably get back to my book", that's what her response sounded like in her head. "Sure", is what she actually said, and she stepped inside following the girl in the towel.

* * *

"Now this would be my humble room", Cosima announced as they went through the door, "Though you probably know that already", she joked. Delphine blushed at the statement.

"I'm just kidding around", she said and Delphine forced a chuckle.

"You want something to drink?"

"Water", blonde girl replied with a tight smile,"Please", she added.

"Got it", and she was out of the room. Delphine looked around. She saw a few photographs on the shelves and assumed that's Cosima's family. Looking at the photo of a girl who couldn't be more than 5 at the time posing in an over-sized white coat, she smiled.

"Want some ice in it?", she heard Cosima call out. Jerking in surprise she bumped against the desk she was next to.

"Sure", she yelled back. Her eyes caught the light from the computer screen before her.

_**The Immunology Link**_ lit in front of her. She was familiar with this particular page. In fact, she probably spent too much time on this site and the fact that this girl she's just met seemed to find the interest in it as well, made her feel slightly more comfortable and confident with herself than she was just moments ago.

"Oh..", Cosima appeared behind her, "That was just something I was looking at, sorry", she said reaching over to turn the screen off. The roles reversed and now it was Cosima that felt a little foolish. "Here you go", she passed water to the girl.

"Thanks", she smiled as she felt girl's fingers brush against her own when she reached out for the cold glass.

"Umm, sit wherever you want. I'll just grab some clothes", Cosima walked to the closet picking out something to wear. Delphine observed her doing this as she sat down on the bed and took a sip of water. Brunette suddenly dropped a towel and reached for the panties. She knew other girl's eyes were on her and she enjoyed the attention. "You alright?, she teasingly announced glancing over the shoulder.

Delphine was obviously once again caught off guard by her actions, but she managed to get herself together faster than before. "Excellent", she bit her lower lip looking at the side for a moment, before looking at the brunette once again, "Do you need help with that?", she asked as the girl clasped her bra closed.

Cosima raised an eyebrow at the sudden confidence she was getting from the girl. She turned around and just then actually noticed the person sitting on her bed. She skimed over her body; Her blonde hair was settling on her shoulders, her brown eyes piercing. She was leaning back on her elbows and white shirt revealed just enough of her chest that was rising rhythmically. Looking lower, she run her eyes over girl's bare legs. Her skin was pale, but looked incredibly soft. "Um..", she looked up at her lips then scrunched her eyebrows looking away and shook her head _no_ as she cleared her throat.

Delphine nodded once, her mood suddenly changing. She saw the way girl looked at her and even though she was the one fully dressed in the room, she felt completely bare. Bare, yes, but uncomfortable, somehow not. She couldn't say this wasn't another thing that made her confused, but at the moment she didn't feel like questioning it.

Cosima shook all the thoughts she had out of her head and pulled shorts and a shirt on. "You ever smoked pot, Delphine?", Cosima asked eyeing the girl.

Delphine looked surprised at her words as she wasn't sure where they came from. "Non, just a few cigarettes once", she responded.

"Oh, that's a completely different thing", she waved her hand.

"Wait, you actually have some?", Delphine questioned.

"No, but I know someone who does"

"I don't think that's such a good idea, rebel", she said jokingly.

"Oh, is it not?", Cosima sneered walking towards the girl, "How'd you know?", she settled on the bed next to the girl crossing her legs on the bed.

"I've read about it", she nodded and turned on the side to face the girl, "Scientists have proved that, even though it puts you in the state of relaxation, it has many bad effects..", brunette carefully listened, her eyes moving every now and then from her eyes to her lips, "like for example, distorted perception, memory loss, trouble studying, disorientation"

Cosima smiled at the way Delphine spoke about this with so much interest, "Wow, you really did your homework", she chuckled.

Delphine just then looked up, seeing brunette smile she did the same, "Shut up", she rolled her eyes and playfully tossed a pillow that was next to her at the girl before her.

"Getting defensive, I see", she laughed tossing it away and pushing the girl down on her back and hovering over her. Delphine tried to roll her off, but she was quick to pin her arms down almost instantly as she felt them move up. "You forgot hallucinations, geek", she grinned at the girl that was struggling under her. They held a gaze for a moment and Delphine once again felt the same intense look which made her gulp audibly. Brunette moved off her and sat back on the bed.

"So you do know a thing or two, turns out", blonde joked as she too moved up on the side of the bed fixing her hair.

"Excuse me? A thing or two?", Cosima gasped pretending to be insulted.

"Cos? Cosima?", a woman called out, "You up there?"

"Yeah, mom, I'm here", she answered and looked back at Delphine mouthing, "Sorry, just a second", as she got up.

The door opened and her mother appeared there, "Hey", she looked at the blonde girl, "There you are. Delphine, right?", Dana smiled at her, "I think your mother's looking for you"

"Oh", she stood up abruptly, "Right, I totally forgot", she fumbled looking from Cosima to her mother quickly as she approached the door, "Thank you!", she smiled at Dana, "Umm", she looked back at Cosima unsure of what to do, "Gotta go", she nodded off and started walking towards the stairs.

Cosima smiled at the girl's clumsiness, "See you around, Delphine", she waved off. Hearing the door close, she turned to her mother, "You're home early", she stated forcing a grin.

"Mhm", Dana squinted her eyes at her daughter, "Didn't I say no girls in your room?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Across the Window**

III

She finally got to lay down. Even though Cosima wasn't particularly active that day, she was tired. Not the_ I'm falling asleep and every muscle of my body aches_, more the_ it was a nice day and now I'm in my bed; it's comfortable, warm and I feel relaxed and content, so I'm enjoying_ _this_. She closed her eyes and let her thoughts wander and enjoyed the silence.

From the house across, a blonde was trying to aim the best she could. Four little pebble rocks, that's all she managed to sneak up from the dark back yard. "Okay, here we go", she thought getting ready to shoot.

First throw. Not so bad, could aim a bit higher. No reaction, though.

Second throw. Cosima thought she heard something, but she decided to ignore.

Third throw. Okay, now she definitely heard something.

Fourth throw. "What the hell", she thought and pulled the sheets off dragging herself to the window. She opened it and looked out. It was dark and it seemed like no one was there.

"Psh, psh! Here!", blonde said in a low voice.

"Delphine?", Cosima thought it might be her, but she couldn't see clearly. She walked back into the room.

"Hey! No, no!", her voice raised as she saw the girl walking away.

"What are you doing?", brunette appeared back with her glasses on.

The edge of her lips slightly curved at the sigh of the girl. "Just wanted to say sorry I left so quickly before", she murmured.

"Oh, it's fine", she smiled assuring her, "No problem".

The blonde nodded smiling back. When silence filled the air, she realized she had nothing else to say, but she couldn't risk getting embarrassed again.

"Were you sleeping?", Delphine asked.

"Nope, no", she shook her head.

"No? Okay, wouldn't wanna know I woke you up"

"You didn't, it's okay", her lips formed a smile again as she looked at the girl standing outside in shorts and tank top, "Aren't you cold?"

"Hm, not really", she scrunched up her noise, "Canadian, you know"

"Right, you're from Canada"

"Yes, I realize I forgot to mention that"

"Is fine", Cosima waved it off, "We'll have time for catching up"

"Sure", her lips formed a smile at the thought of spending more time with the brunette.

Silence again.

"You probably wanna sleep now", blonde said.

"If you'd let me, yeah"

Delphine's expression turned serious instantly, "I thought it was okay", she said confusingly.

"It is. I'm kidding", brunette announced grinning at the girl. She felt kinda bad now that she saw how quickly her mood dropped.

"Ugh", she glared at her, "You've gotta stop that"

"Your face was priceless though", Cosima teased.

"I don't like you", Delphine tried hard to keep the seriousness.

"Oh, please", brunette was smiling widely, "I'm your new favorite person"

Delphine rolled her eyes at the statement, "Goodnight, Cosima", she said as walking back inside her house.

"Goodnight, Delphine", she replied still smiling as she watched the girl go.

* * *

"Please, it's not a problem. There's no need, really..", Cosima heard her mother speak to someone at the door as she strolled through the hall on her way to the kitchen, "Yes, tonight is great. We'll be there. Thank you!"

Dana closed the door and walked back to the kitchen to find her daughter with the bowl of cereal, "Morning, sunshine", she voiced, "Don't get yourself too stuffed with that, we have a dinner to catch with your French friend tonight", she smiled squeezing her shoulder as she walked by.

"W- what?", Cosima tried with full mouth, "And I thought they were Canadian", she contemplated after swallowing.

"Oh, well..", she brushed it off, "Mary seems nice and we haven't had a dinner night in a while. I'm excited, aren't you excited?", Dana forced enthusiastically.

"Ugh", Cosima whined visibly showing her the opposite, "I'll go get back to my stuff", she said sliding out of the chair.

She watched her daughter with a slight concern, "Hey..", she started, "Don't I even get a kiss good morning anymore?"

* * *

Doorbell filled the air over at the Cormier's house. Mary welcomed the guests and they followed her inside to the dinning room where the rest of the family was.

"I'm Dana, very nice to meet you!", Richard shook the woman's hand, "And this is my daughter Cosima", she put an arm around her.

"Ah, Delphine's new friend, right?", he grinned at her.

Cosima glanced at the blonde who was standing just a few steps away from her father, "That's right", she answered smiling politely.

"Well, have a sit, everybody", Mary announced, "You can take one next to Delphine", she spoke to Cosima, who nodded in response

"Hi", brunette said loudly enough only for Delphine to hear as she pulled her chair out to sit.

"Hey", she smiled moving her chair closer to the table as she too sat down.

Laughter was heard, vine poured and stories exchanged. Even though they've just met, adults easily got along. As a professor of medicine, psychiatrist and a surgeon, the trio found many topics to discuss. Besides having medicine in common, they had daughters of the same age to talk about.

"And then this little one's turn comes and she answers it all correctly, 10 seconds left before the end and everyone's already on their feet cheering and applauding", Dana proudly told the story of her daughter's competition.

"Woah", all the eyes were on Cosima, "Impressive", Richard complimented.

Cosima forced the polite smile in appreciation. She hated when her mother did this and she did it every time they met someone knew. She tried to understand her mother's need to brag about her, but she wished she wouldn't do it as often. Not long after she was in the spotlight, the adults found another topic to chat about. Cosima was listening to Mary talk about her patient when she felt something brush against her leg. She turned her head to the side to find Delphine looking at her.

"Wanna go to my room?, Delphine whispered.

"Um..", she glanced at blonde's mother then back at her. She wanted to hear the rest of the story, but looking at the girl next to her who was waiting for an answer, she thought "Screw it".

"Yeah, let's go", Cosima responded.

And quickly they were off walking upstairs to blonde's room.

"Alice in Wonderland Syndrome", Delphine said as she closed the door.

"What?", brunette asked.

"The thing my mom was talking about", she started, "It's a condition where person's sense of size, time, perspective is distorted. Her patient felt as if certain parts of his body were bigger than they actually were, which made him have panic attacks. It's bad"

"Oh.. I've never heard of it before", Cosima replied, "Okay"

"You seemed like you wanted to hear the rest, so..", she sat down on the bed.

"Yeah", her lips formed a smile as she held a look on the girl, "Thanks", she took a step towards the blonde and sat next to her.

They felt silent for a moment. Delphine heard the brunette sigh and looked up to see her looking at the window.

"So, this is where you creep on me from", she faced the blonde smiling at her.

"Oh, shut up", Delphine chuckled and playfully pushed the girl in front of her.

No words again. Every now and then they'd become silent, but it wasn't the awkward kind of silent, at least not all the time. And even though they didn't know much about each other, they did enjoy each other's presence.

The laughter that erupted from the downstairs broke the peaceful surroundings they were in.

"Wow, they really like each other", Cosima made a remark.

"Yeah, they certainly seem to"

"Oh, man, you know what that means", the blonde furrowed her eyebrows questionably, "Means I'll be forced to spend more time with you", Cosima joked again.

"Ugh", Delphine groaned rolling her eyes, "I'm gonna kill you"

Cosima chuckled in response.

"Uh, is that a plasma ball?", brunette asked when she spotted the globe on the desk.

"Yeah, it is", she glanced at where the other girl was looking.

"Wanna turn it on?", she pursed her lips.

"Do I have a choice?", blonde shook her head as she got up to plug it in.

Cosima quickly stepped towards it, instantly putting her hand over the ball, "Aah", she sighed with pleasure watching the electric arc. Delphine smiled at the scene before switching the lights off. Brunette was smiling widely as the other girl walked over to her. She slowly placed her hand on the ball next to Cosima's and heard her chuckle with excitement as the electric arc concentrated in the spot below her hand. Delphine looked up at Cosima, light from the ball was glowing against her face and she couldn't help but keep a gaze on her.

"What?", brunette let a low giggle when she noticed she was being watched.

"Nothing", she said taking one last look at the girl before moving her eyes on the ball.

Cosima eyed the blonde and gently placed her hand on top of hers, "What are you doing?", Delphine asked as she watched the girl reach for the switch.

"Just don't move your hand yet", she said barely squeezing it. The ball was off, "Okay, move it now", she let her hand free, "Touch the ball again", Delphine was confused, but before deciding what to do she felt fingers wrap around her wrist and her hand was back on the ball. Electric bolts flashed up and she gasped in surprise. "Now clap your hands", this time she decided to trust her. With every clap more electric bolts ran through the ball. She grinned at Cosima who smiled back. Soon there was no more electricity and they found themselves in complete darkness.

"Okay, didn't think that through", Cosima announced receiving a chuckle in return.

"Don't move, I'll handle it", blonde said as she stepped back with her arms outstretched. She walked slowly reaching out for any object to navigate or hold onto if she started falling. Her hand brushed against something that felt like a clothing texture, "Was that..?", she stopped for a second contemplating if it was other girl's chest she just ran her hands over.

"Yup, you sure are handling it", Cosima joked.

Suddenly the light filled the air, except it was not Delphine's doing, but her father's, "All alright here?", he asked turning the lights on.

"Yeah, we were just playing with the", Delphine stuttered, "the thing, the b-"

"The plasma ball", Cosima helped out.

"Okay", he nodded somewhat unconvinced with the story, "Well, Cosima, your mother's waiting for you downstairs"

* * *

"Just take those two from the back seat", Dana told her daughter as she carried the groceries inside the house. Cosima was about to do the same before she spotted the blonde near.

"That was a really nice trick you did last night", Delphine remarked.

"Yeah", Cosima smiled, "I have a few more of those"

"You do?", blonde raised her eyebrows questionably.

"Yes and by the time I'm done I'll have you swooning", her lips curved into a playful smirk.

Delphine felt the redness creep over her cheeks, "Right", she bit her lower lip holding back the smile that threatened to appear.

"You coming?", Dana shouted from the house.

"Gotta get these inside", Cosima said breaking the eye contact and slightly lifting the bags for the blonde to see.

"Oh, yeah", she nodded, "Okay"

"Cosima", Delphine called out just as they parted. Brunette turned back around, having gained her attention, she continued, "My dad has this thing tomorrow at the University, something about gene therapy. You wanna come along?"

"Sure", she nodded.

Delphine smiled, "Great, I'll see you then"

"Yeah, see you", Cosima smiled back.


End file.
